Custom Made, Upholstered Bedheads Australia, with Martini Furniture

A lovely place to lay your head is the most important part of your bedroom. If you are lucky enough to have a roof over your head, and a comfy bed, you have the opportunity to make it shine. There is nothing as wonderful at the end of the day than flopping down onto a freshly made bed, sheets all crisp and smooth, and resting against a pretty bedhead. It also begins your day well when you make the bed, and walk out knowing you will return to this place later.

Martini Furniture, run by Leif and Erin, have joined the Sustainable Home Hub and they know all about creating a bedroom haven. They are a newly-wed couple, getting married on 11th September 2018, who create custom made, uholstered Bedheads. Leif is also a writer and founder of The Regender Project, and Erin is a marketer who runs her own marketing agency – Impact Marketing Services. “We both have a love of bright colours, and creating new things. These things combined with our give it a go attitude, is why we own and run three businesses!” they say.

Based in Melbourne, the business is online and ships Australia-wide. The couple bring colour back into your home with their handmade, brightly coloured upholstered bedheads. “We pride ourselves on the comfort and luxe of our designs and constructions, setting us apart from other mass-produced, imported products” they say. It is exciting to see that they are also in the process of launching an upcycled range – taking secondhand armchairs, occasional chairs, dining chairs and tables, and restoring them. They will be adding their signature flair by upstyling them with brightly coloured block and pattern fabrics.

They started the business with the aim of creating an upcycled furniture range and have been curating pieces for a while to begin the range, but it has been a long process to get it off the ground. “We decided to offer handmade upholstered bedheads as our initial range to launch the brand and build awareness, and then will follow with the upcycled range in 2019” they explain. The idea for the business was Erin’s a few years ago, when she started curating the furniture for the upcycled range, but didn’t do anything about it until she met Leif. Leif, being a writer who spends all day on the computer, had an itch to do something with his hands, and so their ideas merged, and Martini Furniture was brought to life!

“Martini Furniture allows us the opportunity to get up and about from our computers and explore the world of colour and textiles, shop for great secondhand pieces, and create products that people love putting in their homes” explains Erin.

Erin’s tips on creating a more sustainable home

I believe that our world is too cluttered with “stuff” – filling our homes with things we don’t use, and certainly don’t need.

Many years ago I made a change to focus more on experiences rather than material possessions, which has enriched my life, and significantly reduced the amount of new things I buy!

As I get older, I am more interested in moving towards a more sustainable, minimal lifestyle, and have adopted the principal of buying more unique pieces secondhand whenever I have a “need” for them (not just a “want”!), and of living by the principle of “don’t upgrade for the sake of it – wait until it breaks, then replace it”.

We have a long way to go before we live a truly sustainable life, but we’ve all got to start somewhere.

Erin and Leif don’t do cookie-cutter, mass-produced products. They work with their customers to create handmade upholstered bedheads in the colour, size and style they love, to achieve the look they want in their homes. By not having to compromise on buying generic, mass-produced products in limited colours, they find their customers are more excited about, and more attached to the piece they create for them. This means they won’t feel the need to replace it in a short amount of time with something else.

The couple’s favourite product at the moment is their Royal Blue Buttoned Velvet Upholstered Bedhead, which is also the most popular of their products with customers. “The velvet we have chosen is so luxuriously soft to touch and feels amazing – exactly what you want to retire to every evening! Being Royal Blue, it’s a colour pop, but subtle enough to blend with a neutral palette” explains Erin.

Their favourite custom order so far was a 3.1 metre paneled bedhead, with matching 2m blanket box to span the entire width of a king size bed! “We were so thrilled that our customer went bold and chose the Light Blue Velvet, and the end result was stunning!” says Erin. They have some exciting pieces in the works for the Upcycled range, and can’t wait to launch those in the next 6 months.

They were lucky to be invited to supply to The Block this year, and say the experience was amazing! “Working with Jess and Norm, supplying the Gold Bedhead in two hours to help them win their Style to Sell challenge room in week 2, to working with Carla & Bianca to make three bedheads for their Penthouse apartment, was an absolute thrill and one that we’re so excited about! Not bad for a first year in business!” they laugh.

We are excited to see what Martini Furniture do next with their upcycled range! You can find them here on the Hub and follow through to all of their details

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Welcome to The Sustainable Home Hub, where we help you live a gentle life. I am Helen Edwards, an award winning blogger, eco and children's/young adult book author, and Mama to 3 beautiful sons. Our focus is on reducing eco-anxiety, removing barriers to sustainability, and helping you to take small simple actionable steps, towards a sustainable home and life.

We encourage you to check out the businesses on our Sustainable Home Hub Directory and visit the blog for the latest tips and stories.

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Celebrate diversity, love your own style, and connect more with each other and join our #realhomesmovement. Stop worrying about what other people think and more about what you can do to be happier, healthier, and create a home you love that's better for you, your family and our planet. Xx Helen